Name: 為什麼藝術學校不斷倒閉 (Why Art Schools Keep Closing)
Uploaded: 2024-08-17T19:55:18.000Z
Duration: 35 min 5 s

過去簡單式

All right y'all, it's time to get spicy. Art schools across the United States keep closing, and as someone who's an artist who went to an art school and was definitely deeply involved with and drinking the art school Kool-Aid, we should talk about some of the reasons why it's happening.

好了，各位，是時候來點刺激的了。美國各地的藝術院校不斷倒閉，作為一個上過藝術院校的藝術家，也曾深受藝術院校的影響，喝過藝術院校的 "苦酒"，我們應該談談倒閉的一些原因。

to 不定詞

And also I'd like to talk about some of the ways that I think these schools can maybe fix it.

此外，我還想談談我認為這些學校可以解決這個問題的一些方法。

現在進行式

First, what qualifies as an art school? In this video I'm talking about specifically private four-year colleges of art and design, and some of the ones that have recently closed.

首先，什麼是藝術學校？在這段視頻中，我將專門討論私立四年制藝術與設計學院，以及最近關閉的一些學院。

Those are the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Delaware College of Art and Design, the University of Arts in Philadelphia, the American Academy of Art in Chicago that actually just announced its closure last week, and the San Francisco Art Institute right here in the Bay Area.

這些學校包括賓夕法尼亞美術學院、特拉華藝術與設計學院、費城藝術大學、上週剛剛宣佈關閉的芝加哥美國藝術學院，以及位於灣區的舊金山藝術學院。

All of these closures have been quite shocking, especially to the faculty and students who oftentimes never saw it coming. And that's bad. Getting caught off guard by the fact that your school that you're teaching and working at is closing is very, very bad. I don't want to see layoffs like this happen to anyone, and I think especially these students probably feel so uncertain that they've gotten themselves in a bunch of debt already and their school closes. I don't wish this kind of thing upon anyone, which is why I think it's important to talk about. I have tons of respect for folks that teach in higher ed, especially in these schools. However, I think there are definitely some issues with the way they are run and some things around administration that I'm going to talk about in this video. So let's go ahead and wade into the depths of why these art schools keep closing. One of the main reasons these schools keep closing is cost. Quite frankly, they have gotten way too expensive. Tuition is truly blooming. When I went to the Kansas City

所有這些關閉事件都令人震驚，尤其是對於那些往往從未預見到這一切的教師和學生來說。這很糟糕。如果你正在任教和工作的學校要關閉了，你會措手不及，這是非常非常糟糕的。我不希望看到裁員這樣的事情發生在任何人身上，我想尤其是這些學生，他們可能會感到非常不確定，以至於他們已經欠了一屁股債，而他們的學校卻關閉了。我不希望這樣的事情發生在任何人身上，這就是為什麼我認為有必要談談這件事。我非常尊重在高校任教的人，尤其是在這些學校任教的人。但是，我認為他們的管理方式和行政管理方面肯定存在一些問題，我將在本視頻中談談這些問題。

Art Institute, I started in 2009, and back then tuition was $28,000 a year. I managed to receive a half-tuition scholarship and some other financial aid packages, and so I paid a little bit less than $14,000 a year, meaning that I walked away with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting for less than $56,000. Pretty good. In order to help keep my cost of living low, I worked the entire time that I was in school, much to the dismay of my professors. I would spend loads and loads of time on my summers and weekends working a retail job, so that way I could pay my rent, afford food, and afford the really expensive supplies that you're required to buy in art school.

我於 2009 年進入藝術學院學習，當時的學費是每年 2.8 萬美元。我獲得了學費減半的獎學金和一些其他的經濟援助，所以我每年只花了不到 1.4 萬美元，也就是說，我只花了不到 5.6 萬美元就拿到了繪畫專業的藝術學士學位。相當不錯。為了降低生活成本，我在校期間一直在工作，這讓我的教授們大失所望。我會在暑假和週末花大量時間做零售工作，這樣我就能付得起房租、吃得起飯、買得起藝術學校要求購買的昂貴用品。

But this ended up having a negative impact on my grades. I actually had one particular professor in my foundation's year that I went to his office hours because I got to be in his class.

但這最終對我的成績產生了負面影響。實際上，在我打基礎的那一年，有一位特別的教授，我去了他的辦公時間，因為我可以上他的課。

I thought that the work that I did was exceptional, and I just wanted to know his feedback. What did

我認為我的工作非常出色，我只想知道他的反饋意見。他的反饋

I do wrong? And he told me, point blank, that having a job was keeping me out of the studio.

我做錯了嗎？他直截了當地告訴我，因為有工作，我不能去工作室。

And to me, that made no sense. Looking back now to my little 18-year-old self, I was starting to see the classism that exists in the art world play out right in front of me in this professor, who had a job in order to support his practice. But working through college is a normal thing.

對我來說，這毫無意義。現在回想 18 歲時的自己，我開始看到藝術界存在的階級歧視就在我面前的這位教授身上上演，他有一份工作來支持他的實踐。但在大學裡打工是一件很正常的事。

Most students work through college. It's a really great way to avoid taking out private, high-interest student loans. Those private loans can be really scary because oftentimes they also come with variable interest rates. And to me, the companies that run those private student loans are very fraudulent, and they're taking advantage of children. But I want to go back to my school, right? I went there in 2009. That's 15 years ago. But inflation is truly mad because that same school

大多數學生在大學期間都會打工。這是避免申請私人高息學生貸款的好方法。這些私人貸款真的很嚇人，因為很多時候它們還帶有浮動利率。在我看來，經營這些私人學生貸款的公司非常具有欺騙性，他們在利用孩子們。但我想回到我的學校，對嗎？我是2009年去的那是 15 年前的事了。但通貨膨脹真的很瘋狂，因為那所學校

I went to is now $43,000 a year. I put that into a calculator, and that is a 53.6% increase in cost.

我現在的年薪是 43,000 美元。我用計算器算了一下，費用增加了 53.6%。

Now, that's honestly a little bit higher than current inflation, and that number is truly crazy.

老實說，這比目前的通貨膨脹率還要高一點，這個數字確實太瘋狂了。

That means that you're essentially looking at $172,000 for a four-year degree in art and design.

也就是說，四年制藝術與設計專業的學費為 17.2 萬美元。

And unfortunately, that school's kind of cheap compared to some of the other big players in the game. Let's take, for example, RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design. That school right now is currently $61,564 a year. But they actually estimate the total amount that it costs per year to attend is $85,986 a year, meaning that it's a general cost between $246,000 and $343,944 to go get a BFA. What? Like, I just, that is criminal. That should not be the case. Like, you should not pay that much for a degree. Okay. I looked into a little bit more data, and I looked into what was my dream school. I really, really badly wanted to go to CalArts.

不幸的是，與其他一些大學校相比，這所學校的學費有點低。就拿羅德島設計學院（RISD）來說吧。該校目前的學費為每年61,564美元。但實際上，他們估計每年的學費總額為85,986美元，也就是說，要想獲得藝術學士學位，一般需要花費246,000美元到343,944美元。什麼？這簡直就是犯罪。不應該是這樣的。你不應該為一個學位花那麼多錢好吧，我又查閱了一些資料，瞭解了我的夢想學校。我非常非常想去加州藝術學院

And back in 2009, it was $42,000 a year, and I said, I can't afford that. That's gonna be a mortgage payment when I get out of school. Like, I just, I can't see myself living and going to that college. It is now $77,300 a year to go there. That means that for four years, it's $309,000 for a four-year degree. These are not doctors we are talking about. These are people studying painting. And honestly, these estimates are even higher because tuition increases between 2% and 5% every year. And truly, if I'm being honest, the math is not mathing here.

2009 年的時候，一年的學費是 42,000 美元，我說我付不起。我說，我付不起，等我畢業了，那得還房貸。我無法想象自己在那所大學裡生活和學習。現在上大學一年的學費是 77300 美元。也就是說，四年的學費是 30.9 萬美元。我們說的可不是醫生。他們是學習繪畫的人。老實說，這些估價甚至更高，因為學費每年增長 2% 到 5%。說真的，如果我是誠實的，這裡的數學是不計算的。

I don't know how we can justify selling this to students. If you're working in admissions in these schools, how are you justifying this? Like, what is the cost-benefit analysis here? Because that math is not logical. To really illustrate this point, I need to talk about the financial consequences. So what I did is I took them and I put each of these assumed loans of between 70 and 80 grand into a student loan payment calculator. And what I got was between $2,400 and $3,400 a month, which is more than the average two-bedroom apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area.

我不知道我們該如何向學生們解釋這一點。如果你在這些學校從事招生工作，你如何證明這一點？成本效益分析是什麼？因為這種計算方法不符合邏輯。為了真正說明這一點，我需要談談經濟後果。是以，我做的是，我把他們和我把每個這些假設的貸款7至8萬之間的學生貸款支付計算器。我得到的結果是每月 2400 到 3400 美元，這比舊金山灣區平均一套兩居室的公寓還要貴。

How can you justify paying this for college and having that kind of a payment? I think taking on this level of debt for any degree should not be the case. I truly think the American educational system is fundamentally broken if this is the way we're doing things. But I don't think these young kids who are 18, who are signing these loan papers away, who have been conditioned to believe that going to college is the way forward, are going to be okay when they get into their late 20s and their 30s and their 40s and they can't do things like buy a house, buy a car. They are just trapped by that debt. I truly would be in so much financial trouble if I had a payment like that every single month. Plus, these loans are carrying a 6.8 or higher interest rate, which means that while the government's giving you the money to go to school, they're also profiting on your debt, which is a whole nother problem. Okay, okay, let's be optimistic. Let's say you get a ton of scholarships. You get like almost a full ride to go to one of these schools. Maybe you find some like work study and you graduate with like almost no debt. Then is it a good idea to go to one of these institutions? It is important to remember what your payment is going to be after. So when you're figuring this out, putting things into a loan calculator and actually finding out what it is you're going to have to make to make that payment at the end is the smartest thing to do before you sign on the dotted line. I do think these are good schools. I met some of my best friends at art school, I felt really lucky that I was able to spend all of this time honing and focusing my craft and be able to really use that. Because that's opened up a lot of doors for me, especially as a teacher. Now, I got a good education from mostly compassionate people who had most of my best interests at heart. But I did not learn the skills of entrepreneurship.

你怎麼能證明支付這樣的大學學費和這樣的付款方式是合理的呢？我認為任何學位都不應該揹負如此沉重的債務。我真的認為，如果我們的教育體制是這樣的，那麼美國的教育體制就從根本上壞掉了。但是，我不認為這些 18 歲的年輕孩子在簽署這些貸款文件後，就會相信上大學是未來的出路，當他們到了 20 多歲、30 多歲和 40 多歲時，就會沒事了，因為他們不能做買房子、買車之類的事情。他們只是被債務所困。如果我每個月都要償還這樣的債務，我真的會陷入很大的財務困境。另外，這些貸款的利率高達 6.8 或更高，這意味著政府在給你錢去

Like at all. I did not learn how to run a business. I did not learn how to be a freelancer.

根本不喜歡。我沒有學過如何做生意。我沒有學會如何成為一名自由職業者。

I did not learn the skills that I now need in order to pay my bills. And I think the fact that

我沒有學到現在需要的技能來支付賬單。我認為

I had to learn most of that on my own, or in order to learn that on my own, I actually had to intentionally unlearn some of the ways that I was taught in order to get to where I am now is a problem. So let's go into that. So these four-year private art colleges, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, RISD, CalArts, all of these schools take two paths, essentially, with their students. You can either focus on applied arts, like graphic design, illustration, I would even say filmmaking is kind of an applied art. And my friends who studied in these majors were perfectly set up for roles that were creative in their fields, which is amazing.

我不得不自學大部分知識，或者說，為了自學這些知識，我實際上不得不有意識地放棄一些教給我的方法，以達到我現在的境界，這是一個問題。讓我們來談談這個問題。這些四年制私立藝術學院、芝加哥藝術學院、RISD、加州藝術學院，所有這些學校的學生基本上都有兩條路可走。你可以專注於應用藝術，比如平面設計、插畫，我甚至認為電影製作也是一種應用藝術。我那些學習這些專業的朋友們，完全可以在自己的領域裡發揮創造力，這太不可思議了。

They graduated, a lot of them got well paying jobs, and some of them were even offered roles at different illustration firms. And that was huge. That was really cool to see. It was awesome seeing people get the same degree as me and not struggle as much as I did. However, I did learn, as of this morning on threads, that not all schools that teach these particular majors prepare people for careers in the field. So ask real hard questions of current students when you are thinking about going to these educational programs. If you take a second path, though, the path that I did towards a fine art major, something like painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, the schools are often operating from outdated models that are based on the rules of the art world. I personally felt trapped by unhealthy thought patterns and art world propaganda that made me make decisions that were not in my best interest. You're essentially pitted between working on your craft and making work that performs and speaks to the expectations and rules of the art world. And the art world is mostly a bad place. There are some exceptions.

他們畢業後，很多人都找到了高薪工作，有些人甚至獲得了不同插畫公司的職位。這非常了不起。這真的很酷。看到別人和我獲得同樣的學位，卻沒有像我一樣掙扎，這真是太棒了。不過，從今天早上的線程上，我確實瞭解到，並不是所有教授這些特殊專業的學校都能培養出在該領域工作的人才。是以，當你考慮進入這些教育項目時，要向在校學生提出真正的難題。不過，如果你選擇第二條路，也就是我選擇的美術專業，比如繪畫、雕塑、陶藝、攝影，那麼這些學校往往是按照藝術界的陳舊模式來運作的。我個人覺得自己被不健康的思維模式和藝術界的宣傳所困，這讓我做

There are some good arts nonprofits. I can think of two big ones in Kansas City, the Kansas City

有一些不錯的非營利藝術機構。我能想到的有堪薩斯城的兩家大機構，堪薩斯城藝術協會和堪薩斯城文化協會。

Artists Coalition and Charlotte Street. There are artist-run galleries, if those still exist, the ones that survived the pandemic. In Kansas City, I think of Kiosk Gallery as a great example.

藝術家聯盟和夏洛特街。還有藝術家經營的畫廊，如果這些畫廊還存在的話，那些在大流行病中倖存下來的畫廊。在堪薩斯城，我認為 Kiosk Gallery 就是一個很好的例子。

There are also some small, mid-tier gallery spaces that have real client lists that want to help you sell your work. But those are rare. They're kind of like unicorns. And the problem is these are often situations that are not run by artists for artists. A lot of times, arts organizations like museums are run by boards. And those boards are made up of people who are often big art collectors. But the board is the one who gets to say what happens and what doesn't.

還有一些小型的中級畫廊，他們有真正的客戶名單，希望幫助你銷售作品。但這種情況很少見。它們有點像獨角獸。問題是，這些地方往往不是由藝術家為藝術家經營的。很多時候，像博物館這樣的藝術機構都是由董事會管理的。董事會成員通常都是藝術品大收藏家。但董事會說了算。

And these board members can have really scary views sometimes. Before I go further, I want to show you how I've been deeply entrenched in this. I'm going to show you my artist resume.

而這些董事會成員的觀點有時真的很可怕。在我繼續說下去之前，我想讓你們看看我是如何深陷其中的。我要向你們展示我的藝術家履歷。

Now, when I was going to school, I was somewhat of a star pupil. I took every piece of advice that my professors gave me to the letter. I was a straight-A student. I was a rule follower.

上學時，我是個明星學生。我嚴格遵守教授們給我的每一條建議。我是個成績優秀的學生我是個循規蹈矩的人

I even started teaching in my school's community extension the month I graduated. I wanted so badly to be a professor of fine art. I wanted to be a professional artist. That was my dream. Those were my goals. But I got duped. So here is my resume. I'm going to put it on the screen here and scroll through it. So the first thing that you see here, these are projects that I did for free or that I paid to do. These next things, teaching, this is where I've made most of my money as an artist. And still, it's the thing that pays most of my bills. Then next up, we've got awards, grants, and residencies. I was really, really lucky in these spaces. And I felt great. The drugstore was amazing. Charlotte Street was incredible with their Rocket Grants program, which is actually funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation. I got lots of really cool opportunities like with the Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition to do a little fellowship on art writing and curatorial studies. And those things kept me from going to graduate school. It ended up saving me tons of money. And while these were small, they were really special. But then let's talk about exhibitions. So these are all things that I had to pay to do. Every single exhibition that you do as an artist is going to usually have a fee that you pay to apply to be in the exhibition. You have to frame your work, and that cost me hundreds of dollars each time. Eventually, I learned that

畢業的那個月，我甚至開始在學校的社區推廣中心教書。我非常想成為一名美術教授。我想成為一名職業藝術家。這是我的夢想。這些都是我的目標。但我被騙了這是我的履歷我把它放到螢幕上 然後滾動瀏覽你看到的第一件事，是我免費或花錢做的項目。接下來是教學，這是我作為藝術家賺到最多錢的地方。現在，這仍然是我支付大部分賬單的地方。接下來是獲獎、資助和實習。在這些地方，我真的非常非常幸運。我感覺很棒藥店太棒了夏洛特街的 "火箭補助金 "項目也非常棒，該項目實際上是由安迪-沃霍爾基金會資助的。我還得到了很多非常棒的機會，比如在俄

Ikea frames are a really, really great way to go if you want to look professional, but you can't afford it. And I don't think that there's enough conversation about how much artists spend to be a part of exhibitions. But then next up, here are some times that I was written up in the press.

如果你想讓自己的作品看起來更專業，但又負擔不起，宜家畫框真的是個不錯的選擇。我認為，關於藝術家為參加展覽花費多少的話題還不夠多。接下來是我在媒體上的一些報道。

I didn't necessarily get paid for this, but I got some prestige points. I also was paid to be a lecturer at different schools or give critiques to students, both at my alma mater and at other schools in the region. Some of those payments were 50 bucks or 75 to come in and give a talk.

我不一定是以得到報酬，但我得到了一些聲望分。我還在母校和本地區其他學校擔任講師，或給學生做評論。有些報酬是 50 美元或 75 美元，讓我去做講座。

Here are some shows I curated. And when I say curating shows, I was mostly volunteering. This was unpaid work or work that I paid to do. Here next are articles that I published. I ran an arts and culture blog called Informality from 2013 to 2020 in Kansas City. And it was my baby. And I just wanted to give back to my community and write about everybody's art. But I really wasn't paying myself for that. Occasionally, we got grants, but I always prioritized giving that money to other writers and paying other people first, not necessarily valuing myself like I should have.

以下是我策劃的一些展覽。我說的策劃展覽，主要是指志願工作。這些都是沒有報酬的工作，或者是我花錢做的工作。接下來是我發表的文章。從 2013 年到 2020 年，我在堪薩斯城營運著一個名為 Informality 的藝術文化博客。這是我的寶貝。我只是想回饋我的社區，寫寫大家的藝術。但我真的沒有為此付給自己報酬。偶爾，我們也會得到資助，但我總是優先把錢給其他作家，先付錢給別人，而不一定像我應該做的那樣重視自己。

This CV that I shared with you was used by my school as an example for their current students.

我與你們分享的這份履歷被我所在的學校用作學生的範例。

But to be honest, it was really hard when I would have students come up to me and be like, oh, my teacher used your resume as an example. How do you do what you do? And I'd be like,

但老實說，當有學生跑來跟我說："哦，我的老師用你的履歷做例子，這真的很難。你是怎麼做到的？我會說

I sell shoes at Nordstrom. That's how I do what I do. I have a day job. And that day job is what allows me and enables me to do all of these other things. And some of those projects that I had done,

我在 Nordstrom 賣鞋。這就是我的工作。我有一份日常工作。白天的工作讓我能夠做其他的事情。我做過的一些項目

I got myself into more debt in order to do. I was convinced that the only way that I could be successful or get to my goal of being a professor was to continue to collect these prestige points on my CV. And it wasn't serving me. It just wasn't. However, when I was at Nordstrom,

為此，我欠下了更多的債。我深信，要想成功或實現當教授的目標，唯一的辦法就是繼續在履歷上收集這些聲望分。但這對我沒有任何幫助。就是不行。然而，當我在諾德斯特龍（Nordstrom、

I got to learn some really cool things. I got to learn how to sell stuff, which is hard. I got to learn how to build a business because everybody there works on commission. So I had to actually think about building customer relationships and what that was going to look like for me.

我學到了很多很酷的東西。我學會了如何賣東西，這很難。我還要學習如何建立業務，因為那裡的每個人都靠佣金工作。是以，我不得不真正思考如何建立客戶關係，以及這對我來說會是什麼樣子。

And it was a great lesson in running a business, even though there were mentors that I had that didn't think that job was very prestigious. But who cares? What I think is cruel about teaching students that this is the way forward is that it relies on luck and prestige as methods of accessing your ability to make a living. And that is not all right. You know, I couldn't afford to move to

雖然我的導師們認為這份工作沒什麼名氣，但這也是經營企業的重要一課。但誰在乎呢？我認為，教導學生這是未來的出路，其殘酷之處在於，它依賴運氣和聲望作為獲取謀生能力的方法。這是不對的。你知道，我沒錢搬到

New York, like some of my classmates, and just go like hobnob and make friends with and network with gallery owners and people who are connected to the New York art scene or the LA art scene.

紐約，就像我的一些同學一樣，去和畫廊老闆以及與紐約藝術界或洛杉磯藝術界有聯繫的人交朋友，建立聯繫。

I don't think that there's enough discussion about how much money is behind a lot of people who find success in the art world. And those are the success stories that we are told about.

我認為，對於很多在藝術界獲得成功的人背後有多少錢的討論還不夠。而這些都是我們耳熟能詳的成功故事。

And that's not okay. This is not the way. And when I had my falling out with my mentor that I talked about in my recent video about quitting art multiple times, it was honestly a moment for me, a reckoning for me, to realize that the way I was working was not working. It was not going to ever set me free and allow me to make my work. When that happened. The other thing was I lost my community, I lost my support network that was enabling me making a lot of the choices I was making in the community. And I it was devastating. I needed though, to see that the vision of success that my school had for me was not going to be the way forward. I had to get out of the art school rat race in order to find the work that I'm making now in order to find myself again. I really had to go through it. Remember that lines on a CV only mean something to a very specific kind of person to a very specific way of working and making in the arts. And you don't need that in order to be a valid artist. You don't need to do stuff for free. You don't need to just collect all of those lines, because what's it going to get you? Maybe $1,000 off your graduate degree, or maybe that'll get you on a hiring panel for a full-time tenure track position. These are becoming more and more scarce, especially as these schools are closing. And that should not be the path that everyone is looking towards, because it is truly unsustainable. Never once when I was in art school was I taught to consider the audience of my work as a real person. That thing that they often teach in business and marketing, which is called the ideal customer profile? We did none of that. I was instead taught to write in the language of museum texts and art forum, aka international art English, which is mostly gobbledygook. It uses way too many words that are overcomplicated when simple ones would do. And I don't think there's a real way that artists are taught to connect to potential collectors, customers, or see themselves as a business. But y'all, when you're selling work, you're selling $1,000 paintings, you are essentially running a luxury business. And you are selling luxury products. But no one in the art world wants to acknowledge this at all. They just want to pretend that it's like fairyland. And like, I am not Mickey Mouse. Like, I can't live like that. It wasn't until 2020, when I watched as the MoMA laid off most of their staff, especially their education staff, that I realized, wait a minute, I don't like this organization.

這是不對的。這不是辦法。當我和我的導師鬧翻時，我在最近關於多次放棄藝術創作的視頻中談到了這一點，老實說，那一刻對我來說是一個清算，讓我意識到我的工作方式是行不通的。它無法讓我獲得自由，無法讓我創作出自己的作品。當這一切發生時另一件事是，我失去了我的社區，失去了我的支持網絡，而這個網絡讓我能夠在社區中做出很多選擇。這對我來說是毀滅性的打擊。但我需要明白，學校為我設定的成功願景並不是我前進的方向。我必須擺脫藝術學校的 "老鼠賽跑"，才能找到現在的工作，才能重新找回自我。我真的必須經歷這一切。請記住，履歷上的幾

And then just after that, it was like the following week, the San Francisco Art Institute, which I had looked at for graduate school, was closing its doors. And I was like, wait a minute, all of these institutions that I put on pedestals are crumbling. I can start to actually ask questions as to why I think that this is valuable. Why do I want to operate in this way? What is the alternative? And what might that look like? I think that because these schools are teaching this one way of working, this one way of working as an artist that starts in galleries and ends in museum shows, that isn't right. If 99% of students graduate from an art school, and they can't make it in that path, they're just going to build resentment. And every single time that I post about these things on threads, I see that seething resentment come forward. And I know you probably have it too. So let me know in the comments. I also want to bring up that this way of working only serves the wealthiest class of art collector. And I can make a whole other video sometime about how the art world is basically just a speculative economy for billionaires and other members of the ultra wealthy to dodge taxes. But let's be real, like, do you want to make deeply personal work about your identity, and then have it be collected by some C-suite executive at Halliburton, and then have it sit in a storage unit for years, only for him to wait for it to go up in value and sell it off like a stock in his portfolio? Is that what you want for your life? Because that's not what I want. I think that's gross. This way of teaching that only serves artists that can land a museum show or professorship or recognition in art forum, those artists who can maybe land amongst their mentors and get that full time tenure track job.

就在那之後，好像是下個星期，我曾想去讀研究所學生的舊金山藝術學院要關門了。我當時想，等一下，所有這些被我放在神壇上的機構都要倒塌了。我可以開始問一些問題，為什麼我認為這是有價值的？我為什麼要以這種方式運作？另一種選擇是什麼？它又是什麼樣子的？我認為，因為這些學校教授的是一種工作方式，一種以畫廊為起點、以博物館展覽為終點的藝術家工作方式，這是不對的。如果99%的學生從藝術院校畢業後都無法在這條道路上走下去，他們就會產生怨恨。每當我在主題上發表關於這些事情的帖子時，我都會看到這種怨恨湧上心頭。我知道你可能也有

It's not real. That's, that's, this is just this is this is a fiction that we are that we are operating from. And when it comes to those loans that I talked about earlier, I had professors who were like, yeah, if you want to get all that loans, all those loans forgiven, you know, all you need to do is get a job like mine where you're a full time tenure track instructor, you do that for 10 years, and then it's public student loan forgiveness, baby, you get all of that forgiven.

這不是真的。這就是，這就是，這就是我們的虛構，我們的操作。說到我之前提到的那些貸款，我的教授們都說，是的，如果你想得到所有的貸款，所有的貸款免除，你知道，你需要做的就是找一份像我這樣的工作，在那裡你是一個全職的終身教員，你做了10年，然後它就是公共學生貸款免除，寶貝，你得到了所有的免除。

But like, to me now, as a person in their early 30s, I hear that. And as a person from the Midwest, and I hear multi level marketing, I hear a promise of something for your down levels that is never going to come true. And this should not be the way we are teaching students that is uncompassionate, and truly, truly dark. If you have had an experience like this, and you're relating to the things that I'm saying, let's start a little conversation down in the comments. Because I want to make more videos about the struggles y'all are having, because we are in this together, like, we're allowed to be angry. And I want to help you overcome that anger and resentment that you have, and get you back to making and creating.

但是，對現在的我來說，作為一個 30 歲出頭的人，我聽到了這些。作為一個來自中西部的人，我聽到了多層次傳銷，我聽到了一個永遠不會實現的對你的低層次的承諾。我們不應該用這樣的方式來教育學生，這樣的教育方式是沒有同情心的，是真正的、真正的黑暗。如果你也有過這樣的經歷，而且你和我說的事情有關聯，那就讓我們在評論區開始一場小小的對話吧。因為我想製作更多關於你們所經歷的掙扎的視頻，因為我們在一起，就像，我們被允許生氣。我想幫助你們克服憤怒和怨恨，讓你們重新開始製作和創作。

I have a friend who I reconnected with lately, we were in the same class, we were really, really close. And I asked them, Hey, you know, have you painted at all since graduating? And they were like, No, dude, I haven't painted at all since I was in art school.

我有一個朋友，我們是同班同學，關係非常非常好。我問他們，嘿，畢業後你畫過畫嗎？他們說，沒有，老兄，我在藝術學校之後就沒畫過畫了。

And that makes me really upset that this person spent this money on this degree. And they don't even indulge their creative habits anymore, because they were taught that just seeing it even as a hobby was not valid. I just, it's, it makes me speechless. It's really, really not okay.

這讓我很不高興，因為這個人花了這麼多錢買了這個學位。他們甚至不再放縱自己的創作習慣，因為他們被教導說，僅僅把它看作是一種愛好是無效的。我真是無言以對。這真的，真的不行。

So returning to art schools closing, I think the reason why these schools are closing also is related to how they're funded. And that goes into issues around administration, right? So tuition, right, tuition cost has just ballooned. And a lot of that is coming down to schools doing really stupid, big construction projects that they don't need to be doing. It's like, cool, you have a bunch of big shiny buildings. But is that what students need? Or do they need more full time instructors that aren't just adjunct faculty that don't have health insurance and are cobbling together a bunch of different jobs? I really think that students are starting to ask questions, especially all in Gen Z, you're freaking smart. And you're starting to actually really look at this and go, is this viable? Does this make sense? Like, is this what I need? Is my degree gonna give me the things that I'm looking for here? The next thing is how they source their funding. So not just tuition, but these schools often rely on donors in order to fund the institution. So where are those donors coming from? Sometimes they are going to be wealthy people, such as the aforementioned billionaires, or just generally, you know, lower degree wealthy people in their community.

說到藝術學校的關閉，我認為這些學校關閉的原因還與它們的資金來源有關。這就涉及到行政管理方面的問題，對吧？所以學費，對，學費成本膨脹了。其中很大一部分原因是學校在做一些非常愚蠢的大型建設項目，而這些項目並不是他們需要做的。這就像，酷，你有一堆閃閃發光的大房子。但這是學生需要的嗎？或者說，他們需要的是更多的全職教師，而不是那些沒有醫療保險、東拼西湊的兼職教師？我真的覺得學生們開始提問了，尤其是 Z 世代的學生們，你們太聰明瞭。你們開始真正審視這個問題，並開始思考：這可行嗎？這樣做有意義嗎？比如，這是我需要的嗎

And sometimes these schools are also funded by wealthy alums, you know, like places like Harvard and Yale can stay afloat and offer the scholarships that they offer because they're funded by wealthy alums. But it's hard to have a lot of wealthy alums, when your school is teaching kids to mimic the expectations of the art world, and to basically put themselves into a debt and lottery system with limited opportunities. That's just not okay. It's hard to get people to donate to a school if they don't have the means to be able to do that if they're buried by debt. And every month they're making a payment that's similar to their rent in the rent in the Bay Area, like, how are you going to justify them giving you more of their, their cash when they are so strapped?

有時候，這些學校也是由富裕的校友資助的，比如哈佛和耶魯這樣的學校，因為有富裕的校友資助，所以才能維持下去，並提供獎學金。但當你的學校在教孩子們模仿藝術界的期望時，很難有很多富有的校友，而且基本上是把自己置於一個機會有限的債務和抽籤系統中。這樣是不行的。如果人們沒有能力為學校捐款，如果他們被債務所困，就很難讓他們為學校捐款。而且每個月他們要支付的費用與灣區的房租相差無幾，在他們如此拮据的情況下，你如何證明他們有理由給你更多的現金？

It's just not real. It's not realistic. The third big one is that there just aren't more people going to college. Not just the fact that Gen Z is starting to ask questions about whether or not this is viable and useful. There's a big fear that even existed when I was going to art school around the year 2026. This is when the kids that were born in the 2008 recession are turning 18.

就是不真實。這不現實。第三個大問題是，沒有更多的人上大學。不僅僅是Z世代開始質疑這是否可行和有用。在我上藝術學校的時候，就有一個很大的擔憂，那就是2026年左右。2008年經濟衰退時出生的孩子們即將年滿18歲。

And if you know anything about birth rates in the US, birth rates really dropped after the recession, and they've never recovered, meaning there are just less students, there are less kids going to school. And so if you have less kids going to school, and those kids are starting to ask real questions, the schools need to be able to answer for what value am I getting out of this? And how am I going to be able to sustain myself and not burn out after this all happens? I don't think that there's talk in art schools, to my knowledge, of people doing stuff like this, where in the age of social media, artists are able to reach a much bigger audience, and they're able to sell outside of galleries, at their own websites, or at makers markets and craft shows, and actually start to think about ways of making that are much more sustainable, and much more real, and tied to real people. Like, I don't do limited edition prints of my work. I leave them as open editions, so that as many people can afford to collect those pieces as they want. And if I had brought that up in art school, I would have been laughed out of my classroom. But I also asked lots of questions about art in class when I was there, and it was, I was always told that I was wrong. But the further

如果你對美國的出生率有所瞭解，那麼在經濟衰退之後，出生率確實有所下降，而且再也沒有恢復，這意味著學生人數減少了，上學的孩子也少了。是以，如果上學的孩子越來越少，而這些孩子又開始提出真正的問題，那麼學校就必須能夠回答，我從中得到了什麼價值？在這一切發生之後，我如何才能維持自己的生活而不至於精疲力竭？在社交媒體時代，藝術家們能夠接觸到更多的閱聽人，他們能夠在畫廊之外、在自己的網站、或在創客市場和手工藝品展上進行銷售，並開始思考更可持續、更真實、與真實的人聯繫在一起的製作方式。比如，我不做限量版印刷品。我的作品

I get out, the more I realize they were the ones who were wrong. Personally, I don't want to see these schools close, but I think they need to become better cultural institutions in order to not succumb to the fates of some of their peers. They need to get their priorities in order.

我走出校門後，越發意識到他們才是錯的人。就我個人而言，我不希望看到這些學校關閉，但我認為它們需要成為更好的文化機構，才不會屈從於某些同行的命運。它們需要理清自己的優先事項。

And I think they need to really start focusing on teaching students the skills of marketing, as hot of a topic as that might be. I think it needs to be addressed. I think students need to learn how to write about their work for people outside of the art world, in a language that's informal and informative, and not just full of neologisms that don't actually make real sense. I can't tell you how many artist statements I read and edited as an arts writer that I could not figure out what certain words really meant, or if the person writing them knew what they meant, or how they were using them. And if you're essentially writing an artist statement that's just, like, word salad, I mean, you might as well be asking generative AI to do it. Like, come on, let's ask people to write like humans for humans. We don't want the AI takeover to put us all out of work.

我認為他們需要真正開始注重向學生傳授營銷技巧，儘管這可能是一個熱門話題。我認為需要解決這個問題。我認為學生需要學習如何用一種非正式的、內容豐富的語言為藝術界以外的人撰寫關於他們作品的文章，而不僅僅是滿篇沒有實際意義的新名詞。作為一名藝術作家，我讀過並編輯過多少藝術家的自述，我不知道其中的某些詞到底是什麼意思，也不知道寫這些詞的人是否知道這些詞的意思，或者他們是如何使用這些詞的。如果你寫的藝術家自述只是文字沙拉，我覺得你還不如讓人工智能來寫。就像，拜託，讓我們要求人們像人類一樣為人類寫作。我們可不想讓人工智

I think, you know, where we are at right now, artists need to know not only financial literacy, so how to manage their debt realistically, not, oh, just do what I do and get it all forgiven.

我認為，你知道，在我們現在所處的階段，藝術家們需要了解的不僅是金融知識，還有如何現實地管理他們的債務，而不是，哦，只要像我這樣做，就能得到全部免除。

Like, no, no. I think artists need to be able to learn how to not only manage their debt, manage their finances, but figure out how to manage being self-employed. Because oftentimes, when you graduate from art school, what you're looking at is a ton of contract work. You're looking at cobbling together art jobs. You're looking at teaching over here a little bit, teaching over there a little bit, and finding ways to make life work when you're going to have periods of feast and famine. Conversations like that really need to happen. I mean,

比如，不，不。我認為藝術家不僅要學會如何管理債務、管理財務，還要學會如何管理自營職業。因為很多時候，當你從藝術學校畢業後，你要面對的是大量的合同工作。你要做的是拼湊起來的藝術工作。你要在這裡教一點書，在那裡教一點書，當你的生活時好時壞時，你要想辦法讓生活正常運轉。這樣的對話確實需要進行。我是說

I was having realistic conversations about the financial stakes in the art world when I was going to school. I had one teacher in particular who was telling me that she could barely afford childcare and was selling her plasma in order to pay her bills and pay for her child to go to daycare. I mean, like, it was bleak. I knew back then that things were not okay, and if I wasn't so starry-eyed and trying to just follow the path that was laid out before me, I think I would have asked some real questions about the people that were telling me these things and whether or not they were happy, and whether or not I wanted to do those things too. Schools really need to stop focusing on these shiny new construction projects and unsustainable business models and charging what they know are criminally higher rates for tuition, and if they don't, they're walking themselves towards extinction. And truly, artists and creative people, we want to know paths to freedom, not to prestige. We want to know paths to make our beautiful work, to pursue our passions, to be loud, to be incredible cultural shapers. And I think we can do that without playing the games of the art world. Because it's busted, y'all. I also think that artists need to not be burdened by a debt that costs as much as or more than their rent.

在我上學的時候，我曾就藝術界的經濟風險進行過現實的對話。特別是有一位老師，她告訴我，她幾乎付不起托兒費，為了支付賬單和孩子的托兒費，她賣掉了自己的血漿。我的意思是，當時的情況很悽慘。我當時就知道情況不妙，如果我不是那麼眼高手低，只想沿著眼前的路走下去，我想我會問一些真正的問題，問問那些告訴我這些事情的人，他們是否快樂，我是否也想做這些事情。學校真的需要停止關注這些閃閃發光的新建設項目和不可持續的商業模式，停止收取他們明知是高得離譜的學費，如果不這樣做，他們就會走向滅亡。真正的藝術家和創意人士，我們想知道通

And I think that a vision of the future that continues to involve replicating the conditions of the art world is just not sustainable. This is not the way. We have to build our own paths.

我認為，繼續照搬藝術世界的條件來展望未來是不可持續的。這不是辦法。我們必須開闢自己的道路。

And that brings me to our ending. So I've talked pretty negatively, right? I want to give you some hope here. To those of you who are current students, who are prospective students, who are recent art school or creative major grads, you are going to have to build a new art world. A new world that works for you. And I suggest reading a bunch of fiction because world building can be really fun and you can learn a lot from that. But I think that the new art world or your new creative business needs to be reflective of our existing culture and not just art culture. It's going to be hard work. There's going to be a whole hell of a lot to disentangle, but you got to stick with it.

這就是我們的結局。我已經說得很消極了，對吧？我想在這裡給你們一些希望。對於在校生、即將畢業的學生、剛從藝術學校或創意專業畢業的學生，你們必須建立一個新的藝術世界。一個適合你們的新世界。我建議你們多讀一些小說，因為構建世界真的很有趣，你們可以從中學習到很多東西。但我認為，新的藝術世界或你的新創意事業需要反映我們現有的文化，而不僅僅是藝術文化。這將是一項艱鉅的工作。會有一大堆事情要做，但你必須堅持下去。

Remember that the focus on elite language and critical theory only supports the powers that be at the top of the pyramid, right? The people at the very top. And you and your communities get to work together to suss out what it is that you value and what you want to exist. I think what's really great is you and your friends that you're making art with get to choose and refuse to play by the old games. And that's rad. One of the best ways that I have found to start learning how to create a new structure or build something new is to see the systems that you're looking at, whether it's galleries or museums or other arts organizations, and start taking them apart bit by bit, realizing what parts work and what parts don't, and start really building those new structures as a community. You can get organized. You can support one another. You should be sharing supplies and sharing rent and doing mutual aid if people are in need. And you know what? You should probably start an artist's union in your community. Remember, we always have more power as a collective and as a community than we do as individuals. Now, lastly, if your school recently closed, or if you're considering where to go to study, I think it's still very important to remember that there are amazing teaching artists outside of traditional four-year colleges of art and design.

請記住，對精英語言和批判理論的關注只會支持金字塔頂端的當權者，對嗎？那些站在最頂端的人。而你們和你們的社區可以共同努力，找出你們的價值所在，找出你們想要的存在。我覺得最棒的是，你和你一起創作藝術的朋友們可以選擇並拒絕舊遊戲。這很棒。我發現，開始學習如何創建新結構或構建新事物的最佳方法之一，就是看清你所看到的系統，無論是畫廊、博物館還是其他藝術組織，然後開始一點一點地拆解它們，意識到哪些部分可行，哪些部分不可行，並開始真正以社區為組織、部門構建這些新結構。你們可以組織起來。你們可以相互支持。你們應該共享物資

Now, these are at more affordable state, private, and even community colleges. Believe it or not, there was a really great community college in Kansas City called the Johnson County Community

現在，這些都是價格更低廉的州立、私立甚至社區學院。信不信由你，堪薩斯城有一所非常棒的社區學院，叫做約翰遜縣社區學院（Johnson County Community College

College. If you're in the KC area, you should definitely look into it. And this school paid people better than the Art Institute did. And so a lot of folks would end up moving away from teaching there and teaching at JCCC. And so remember, you can still access really great artists as your professors without paying quite as much money. Don't be afraid to search outside of what you think is the unique system or the canon to find your way forward. I hope that you all liked this video. I have so much more that I can share about the art world, about art in class, about my big feels about things like CVs and whatnot. So please, let's go ahead and continue the conversation in the comments. I would love to hear from you and hear if this impacted you, or if you agree or disagree. Definitely let me know down there. And until next time, stay creative and find your own way to persistently bloom. See ya!

大學如果你在 KC 地區，一定要去看看。這所學校的工資比藝術學院高。是以，很多人最終都放棄了在那裡任教，轉而在 JCCC 任教。是以，請記住，您仍然可以在不花很多錢的情況下聘請到真正偉大的藝術家作為您的教授。不要害怕在你所認為的獨特體系或典範之外尋找前進的方向。希望大家喜歡這段視頻。我還有很多關於藝術世界、關於課堂藝術、關於我對履歷之類的東西的感受可以分享。所以，請大家在評論中繼續交流吧。我很想聽聽你的意見，聽聽這是否對你有影響，或者你是否同意或不同意。請一定告訴我。下次再見，保持創造力，找到自己的方式，

Oh! Hey! You! You there, you're still watching this video, which means you're amazing, and thank you.

嘿 你你還在看這個視頻 說明你很棒 謝謝你

 So I actually have this little thing right on the screen that you can click to subscribe. And there's also another video that's going to pop up on the screen here that the little algorithm thinks that you're going to like. So until next time, goodbye from myself and internet. Right? Yeah. Goodbye.

所以，我在螢幕上有個小東西，你可以點擊它來訂閱。螢幕上還會彈出另一個視頻，小算法認為你會喜歡。下次再見，我和互聯網。對不對？對吧再見